A RARE LONGQUAN CELADON VASE YUAN DYNASTY

of baluster form, the foot bordered with a row of upright lappets rising to a bulbous body applied with a crisply moulded undulating leafy peony scroll, narrowing to a waisted neck further decorated with three peony sprigs below the ribbed trumpet mouth, thickly covered overall in an even brilliant bluish-green celadon glaze 

There are three sections of restoration to the mouthrim, each about 3 inches wide, two of which were broken and restuck, one rebuilt. Almost the entire mouthrim has been painted over. There is some minor crackling to the glaze on one side of the foot. Pre-restoration photographs are available upon request.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This vase is notable for the crisp and naturalistic rendering of the peonies which elegantly scroll around the body of the vase, and for the luminescence of the glaze.  A larger vase of this type  in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Longquan qingci, Beijing, 1966, pl. 41; and vases with their mouths reduced, in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, are published in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, vol. 1, London, 1986, nos 204 and 205. Smaller and simpler examples have been found on a shipwreck off the coast of Sinan, South Korea, datable to approximately the third decade of the 14^th century, and were included in the Special Exhibition of Cultural Relics Found Off Sinan Coast, Seoul, National Museum of Korea, 1977, cat. no. 23.

Longquan wares with moulded and applied decoration first appeared in the late Song dynasty and were produced in large quantities during the Yuan. They were assembled in sections and instead of having a base, their bottom section was closed with an inverted saucer-shaped piece of clay. Compare a similarly shaped yenyen vase from the Percival David Foundation, and now in the British Museum, London, inscribed with the date corresponding to 1327, illustrated in Margaret Medley, Yuan Porcelain and Stoneware, London, 1974, pl. 58.